“As instantly gripping as it was elegantly written,”
the book’s editor, Lee Boudreaux,
told the New York Times of reading “Rooms” for the first time.

Release Date: 2014

My Reaction:

So my first though was:

Because this is a big deal!

I am always interested to see how a YA author can transition into the adult genre. Honestly, there are very few who can do it fluidly. But Lauren is a great author and I think she might actually do better as an adult fiction write than a YA author because she’s amazing at creating relatable characters and adults tend to appreciate that art more.

Plus, I am REALLY happy Lauren has so many books in the works right now. Cannot wait to read them allllll

Lauren Oliver confirmed that this stand-alone novel will fit into the genre of realistic fiction. It tells the story of a small Upstate New York town where the teens play a very dangerous game every summer.

My reaction:

A “stand-alone” book? In the YA genre? By someone who’s already had an extremely successful trilogy with FOUR bridges?

Why I Am Excited: I’ve never heard of Suzanne Young before but I’m drawn to her because she currently lives in Tempe, AZ which is about 10 mins from me. And I really enjoy reading works from people I can actually visualize when they are writing it… maybe the fact that she lives so close to me makes me drawn to her? Perhaps. But the basis of this book is intrguing. It seems very UnWind meets Beta and Delirium. You’ve got the dystopian aspect of The UnWind Series in the government’s association with raising children and the Beta/Delirium pull with the brainwashing and memory pulling. Young’s basically using all the ingredients that have worked in the recent past to make a book popular. Whether or not that plan pans out remains to be seen.

What I Hope To See: I kind of feel bad but I am caught up in what I hope I DON’T see in this series. First, no love triangle or InstaLove. Second, no overly dramatic self pitying and depreciating protag. Third, no uhealthy relationship between Sloane and James. If she can pull that off, I think my rating will already be a three based on the concept. I also hope this book doesn’t swing too young, too “let me force this idea down your throat”. I feel like it could get a little naive if she lets it just based on the summary provided but then it also deals with a very serious subject of suicide. *exasperated sigh* I don’t know what I am trying to say here.. basically, if it’s handled delicately, it could be awesome. I also hope she can create a world completely unique. Since Young’s pulling ideas and concepts from a lot of popular well known books, I hope she can can capture a different world within her pages.

My Predictions: As always, it’s difficult to predict anything with a new series but I’ll give it a shot.

Obviously, Sloane has parents that love her and want to protect her. Now this could sway positive or negative. Does she want to keep them happy because they are so devastated by their loss of her brother and she would feel guilty if she messed up too? Or does she genuinely adore her parents and their relationship? This relationship will really define the basics of the book. My thoughts? Option One.

We already have a leading male in the protag’s life: James. It’ll be interesting to see how Young initially describes their relationship. Passionate? Friendly? Adoring? Do they build each other up or beak each other down? I think they will have a positive relationship so we can really sympathize with Sloan throughout the book.

Now we know Sloan will have a “Stick it to the Man” moment at some point in the series. Just like all dystopia’s with government over-lording, our character’s always somehow find themselves in a position to fight back. Now this book is about suicide, which leads me to believe it’s going to have the more dramatic vibe like UnWind did, or even the uncomfortable discussions like XVI did. So I am hoping that Young eases us into the plot, really giving us raw character emotion so that we can fly and root alongside Sloan when she undoubtedly will make her stand in the end. Basically, I want to be gripped hard and fast.

In my last couple of reviews, I have been mentioning bridge books a lot. Bridge books are short stories that are written to enhance the overall series an author is writing. There are many different kinds of bridge books but the ones I read usually are written as an “in between book”, typically given a 1.5 or 2.5 designation, and bring in a different character’s perspective. I personally, loooove bridge books. They can develop and enrich your story in a magnificent way. You can be introduced to a new character, a new way of thinking. You can grasp or understand a concept you couldn’t in the full book. You can live a moment through different set of eyes. It’s an amazing aspect of writing that I wish every author would do. Authors like Cassandra Clare and Lauren Oliver have fully grasped this concept. It also, and this pure selfishness on my part, can help ease the pain of having to wait for the next book to be released. I can’t tell you how many times I am uber bummed I have to wait a year until the next book comes out and then I find out that a bridge book will be released in 6 months and it makes my life so much better.

Below is a collection of a few different categories of bridge books/short stories I’ve read over the last year. Each one gives you an idea of what bridges and shorts can add to a story. You can read my full reviews of each by clicking on the links attached to the titles and it will take you to my Goodreads account. I highly encourage everyone to read the bridge books and short stories associated with series. It can make the books so much more enjoyable!

This book is the 1.5 book in the Birthmarked Series, a pretty decent dystopia trilogy with a female protag, and is probably my favorite bridge I’ve read thus far. I enjoyed the series with my ratings of each book fluttering between 3 and 4 stars. This bridge, however, added a HUGE piece of insight into the heroine’s love interest, Leon. He is narrating this bridge which is awesome because the entire series is told from Gaia’s point of view. It also connects how Leon ends up where he does in Book 2, Prized and in Book 3, Promised you wouldn’t understand the unique dynamics between Leon, Gaia and the prison cell unless you’ve read this bridge. It’s an amazing add on to the series.

This was a sweet and simply story and very enjoyable. It gave to quick insights into each character but didn’t give anything away, which is hard to do since, unlike most bridge books, it was actually written and PUBLISHED before the actual book, Seraphina, was released. Seraphina was set to be a huge sell this year and this was meant to be a teaser trailer by the author/publisher. It’s a nice little read to add some dynamics before you start Seraphina, even though I actually read it after I had already finished the book (review to come!)PS – it’s available for free online if you click the link on Goodreads!

Pulling directly from my review I wrote after reading this, “I don’t think I can thoroughly comprehend my feelings towards this one until I read book two and three.” Well, I’ve read book two, Outpost, (read my review here) but I still don’t know how I feel. What’s makes me shifty about giving a solid rating is that this bridge introduces us to Thimble and Stone whom we barely knew in Encalve. Deuce refers to them constantly but I am hesitant to give my feelings to these two because if I don’t see them in book three, Hoarde, my poor little heart is going to be crushed. After I initially read this, I rated and reviewed it at 2 stars but I think now it’s just because I didn’t want to get attached to them if I wasn’t going to see them later. Ahhh Ann you manipulate my emotions so much in this short 70 page story! I love it!

Lauren Oliver does a lot of bridges and shorts. She has a o.5, 1.5 and a 2.5 in this series and omg does it add some depth to the plot. In this one, she actually retells the ENTIRE first book through a sub character’s view. It’s crazy intense viewing scenarios through Hana’s eyes, especially when interacting with Lena, who’s the main character throughout the rest of the series. The third book, Requiem is actually told through both their eyes so it was very smart, in my opinion, to introduce readers to Hana (and her questionable morals/actions) in a short. Read my review of Pandemonium, Book Two here and see what I want to see in Requiem here.

Why I am Excited: I read the first two books in this series over the summer, they are quick reads with a very different concept. Right now, I am reading all of Lauren Oliver’s short stories and bridge books. She has about a DOZEN of them and I am really liking the extra info I am getting about the different characters in that are sprinkled into book. I am super excited because since she’s done all of these extra short stories, she has about a bagillion different way she can go with plot. And the pure unpredictability makes my excited meter ramp up about 20 notches. WOOT WOOT!

What I Hope To See: *Contains Spoliers* If you haven’t read the previous books, LOOK AWAY! Oliver left Pandemonium on a HUGE CLIFF HANGER! Alex is alive? He’s found Lena? WTF!?!?!? And then BAM is ends! Holy crapola. I about chucked the damn book across the room after I finished. I really hope she brings in all the characters she’s written shorts about. Having spent “personal” time with them in their own stories, I do not want them to be left out! I really want Lena to get her head on straight about Alex. Does she still love him? How about boy number two? Where are her feelings at? I want her to go back to Alex. I mean the kid DIED for her and she ran away for him. They are meant for each other. I also am kinda hoping that this isn’t the last book in the series. It kinda of makes me wonder because the synopsis on Goodreads doesn’t say anything about the “conclusion” of the series. Hmm…

My Predictions: I’ve already told you I have no freaking idea what will happen. But here a a few things I have thought about:

Alex shuns Lena. This is pretty obvious since he’s pretty pissed at her at the end of book two. But will he come around? Or will they understand that the past is over and they are both different people now?

Hana is going to be a main character in this book since it’s told from Lena and Hana’s viewpoint. I am right smack dab in the middle of Hana right now, so I will have to update this tomorrow when I finish this 77 pager. UPDATED!Hana’s a bia and I do NOT like her one bit. Boo on you!

Hana and Lena are going to meet up in some way. I have a feeling there is going to be a major girl fight thrown down. It’s gunna be good!

OMG HER MOM IS BACK! This is going to be sooo freaking awesome. About to go start Annabel right meow!

“It’s amazing how words can do that, just shred your insides apart. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me – such bullshit.” – Lauren Oliver, Delirium

Second thought: WICKED ENDING! I love the bitch slap life gives Lena at the end of the book. It’s amazing. Lauren Oliver sure does know how to leave her readers on a cliff hanger. Damn you!

Overall thoughts: This was a fun read for me. I was hooked on the ending of Delirium and could not wait to see what happened. Did he really die? Is she going to go back? WHAT WILL HAPPEN! DUN DUN DUN!!!!!! It was a mediocre book with a bombass ending so I didn’t know what to expect with Pandemonium. Survey says? Your high note kept playing through this book Lauren.

The reason why I loved this book so much is because we get to see a different character. Lena is a typical naive sap of a girl in Delirium but now that she is out in the real world she truly becomes a hardcore woman. I loooove that she went through waves of emotions trying to settle on an outlook that she could cope with. She has a grip of shit to deal with and *sigh* I was so emotionally involved with her this time. Oliver didn’t bring too much of one feeling in but let it linger just enough. Bravo!

The past and future shifts in narration really add a unique twist to the story that is just beautiful and artistically done. As soon as I was fully engulfed in the past, it would switch to the present and suck me in, then switch again! It kept me on my toes.

And the ending, AH.MAZE.ING. I cannot WAIT to read the third book of this series!